Chapter 2: H.E.A.T.
14 miles South of Albuquerque, New Mexico, March, 2000
Something towered high above the typically flat, Chihuahuan desert. Thanks to the blistering sun, it cast a large shadow across the ground beneath it. But it was not a mountain, nor a simple building. It was a mutant, a giant monster born of nuclear radiation.
And it was on a direct course for the largest city in New Mexico.
Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopolous watched, his eyes scrunched and his mouth tightened into a grimace as the large creature marched forward. The jeep Nick sat in was keeping a safe distance from the monster while driving parallel to its path. Of all the mutants Nick had witnessed, this one seemed to be the most simplistic. At merely a glance, it was apparent that this mutant was simply an overgrown spider. It didn't take much thought to realize that this creature was probably the result of a mutated tarantula. It even reminded Nick of an old, 50's b-movie he once saw.
Of course, that didn't exempt the creature from further examination. The giant tarantula had a hard exoskeleton covering its thorax and abdomen, colored a desert brown with mustard yellow stripes scribbled across its form and about its armored legs. Eight shiny eyes arranged like those of a typical spider appeared like perfectly formed spheres of amethyst. Dark, thick hair sprouted from the monster's back, leg joints, and especially around the mouth. A pair of pincers and two small arms extended from either side of the giant spider's jaws, with another pair of spinnerets poking out from the tarantula's rear. Eight long legs arched above the low-lying body of the giant spider, each appendage ending in a wicked sharp claw that stabbed into the dusty desert with each step. With some quick calculations, Nick estimated the creature, including its legs, to be about 130 feet or 40 meters tall.
This creature was Kumonga, the mutant tarantula born of the Trinity project.
The aggressive growls of jet engines roared in Nick's ears as a pair of military jets rushed overhead. Nick looked up in time to watch the jets dive towards, releasing a pair of missiles each as they zoomed over the tarantula's back. Each of the four missiles slammed into the mutant's side, three into its abdomen and one into an extending leg. A piercing shriek emitted from the jaws of Kumonga, who swung a clawed leg upwards in an attempt to swat the retreating jets out of the sky. Fortunately, the mutant's attack missed though, of course, not all of them had or would be so lucky.
"They're gonna need a little more than that if they actually want to kill it," snarked a voice from Nick's left.
Nick glanced at the woman in control over the jeep as it kept up with the large mutant. "Something tells me they don't have a giant boot on hand," Nick said grimly.
The driver, a red-haired woman named Dr. Elsie Chapman glanced back. "What about an oversized bug-zapper?" the paleontologist quipped.
"No," Nick said, looking back out at the giant tarantula marching across the landscape. However, despite the chilling sight, determination filled his chest. "But we have a plan."
Nick turned around in his seat, looking back at the third person in the car. Dr. Mendel Craven, a timid man with light brown hair and a lab coat, sat in the back seat of the jeep, his face seemingly frozen in an endless state of anxiety. And clutched in his arms sat a large yellow robot.
"Craven, is NIGEL ready?" Nick asked, glancing at the odd robot.
The engineer shook his head slightly, but the anxious expression remained. "Yes, but Nick," he said, worry laced in his words, "I don't think this is a good idea. We barely know anything about this thing and this plan isn't exactly flexible. I mean, all it needs is regeneration and our plan goes straight down the drain!" Craven's words were suddenly cut off by an explosive sneeze triggered by the dust whizzing past.
"Would you rather it reach Albuquerque?" Elsie asked, ignoring the sneeze as she passed an on-hand tissue box to Craven. "Because I'm sure the people there would absolutely LOVE to become an all-you-can-eat buffet for a giant spider."
"Of course not!" Craven said quickly, wiping his nose with a tissue. "But can't we just shoot it from afar? Destroy its legs with a couple of well-placed artillery shells? From, you know, far away?"
"The military's already scored several hits on the creature's legs," Nick began, watching the giant spider out of the corner of his eye. "Even its joints aren't vulnerable to missiles and tank shells. The only possible weak spot is its underbelly." Nick returned his gaze to Craven. "And that's where NIGEL comes in. We need to make sure that thing's underbelly is actually vulnerable before the operation can begin."
Craven sighed, glancing briefly at the mutant before giving a reluctant nod. "Alright. NIGEL is equipped and ready to go."
Nick, after giving Craven an approving nod, looked over at Elsie. "Are we close enough?" he asked.
"Should be," Elsie said with a nod. "But we better be quick. It doesn't take eight legs to move quickly when you're a hundred feet tall."
"Agreed," Nick said. "Let's go!"
With a crunch, the jeep slid to a halt as Elsie slammed on the brakes. As soon as the vehicle had pulled to a stop, the three of them quickly hopped out of the vehicle and began getting the yellow robot out of the jeep and onto the dusty desert ground.
N.I.G.E.L., an acronym for Next millennium Intelligence Gathering Electronic Liaison, was a robot designed by none other than Dr. Craven himself. It had been built shortly after the Manhattan Incident of 1998, a little under two years ago, designed to help gather intel on mutants. Despite the elegant, if not complex, name, it did not appear like the robots of futuristic, sci-fi adventures like Star Wars or Star Trek. In fact, it appeared like a collection of small, crane-like arms connected to a yellow and blue body that was mounted on a moped with tank tracks. NIGEL's body was made up of three parts: a blue support that connected the body to the chassis, a yellow section from which the mechanical arms extended, and a blue, cylindrical component set on top of the middle section.
A long neck extended from this top section, a yellow, arch-shaped frame with headlights attached going over the neck and connecting the top section to the middle. The neck extended out from the top, cylindrical section, ending in a small, spherical head. This head had a circular mouth that appeared like a tiny ventilation grate, a right eye that consisted of a single white light, a left eye that had three, multi-colored lights, a third, red eye in the robot's forehead, and an antenna that extended from the back of the head. Overall, the entire robot was pretty large, getting to about Craven's shoulders in height. It was quite heavy too, taking the three of them to lift the robot out of the jeep and onto the sandy earth.
Once that was done, the three of them went to work. Craven began working on NIGEL's moped-like chassis while Nick and Elsie pulled out another chassis from the jeep. This chassis, though, was different. While NIGEL's normal chassis took the form of a moped, this one seemed more like the body of a plane. It was sleek and aerodynamic, with wings extending from either side. Rotors like that of helicopter blades were placed in the middle of these wings. The back end of the chassis narrowed out into a tail like that of a plane, another helicopter rotor placed in the middle. The center of the chassis had a spot that appeared almost like a pilot's seat, where NIGEL's body would be set in to give him control over the chassis.
This was the chassis of NIGEL's new helicopter mode, a prototype that would serve their plan well… hopefully.
"You sure this will work?" Nick asked Craven as he and Elsie helped remove NIGEL's body from his standard chassis.
Craven scoffed as if Nick had asked a ridiculous question. "Of course it will work. All NIGEL needs to do is hit Kumonga's underbelly, and I should get enough information to know if an artillery shell could penetrate it."
"I meant if it would fly," Nick specified with a sigh. Carefully placing the body down into the flying chassis along with Elsie and Craven, Nick gave the giant spider mutant a quick glance, watching as it got further and further away from them while getting closer and closer to Albuquerque.
This time, Craven seemed to display more doubt. "Mm… possibly," he said slowly. "I didn't really get a chance to actually, uh, test it. But I think it should work."
"Really comforting," Elsie sighed.
"It'll work," Craven assured, making a few final adjustments to the robot, "I'll bet my bottom dollar on it." Stepping away, Craven, Elsie, and Nick watched as the lights in the robot's eyes flashed on and NIGEL sparked to life. Its arms whirled, its head turned back and forth. Then, thanks to a special feature of Craven's robot, NIGEL began to talk.
Or, at least, laugh, and in a matter suspiciously similar to Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm.
"Damn it, Randy!" Craven cursed, stamping his foot into the dusty earth as his robot began to act in a way highly irregular for your standard futuristic robot.
"Help me! Help me be human!" NIGEL mockingly pleaded, its electronic voice still a near-perfect impression of Jeff Goldblum, its head beginning to spin in continuous circles.
"The Fly," Elsie remarked with a smirk, "Randy sure knows his movies."
Craven sighed, clenching his fists, "Damn that kid. I swear…"
Nick put his hand on the engineer's shoulder. "We can worry about that later," he said assertively. "NIGEL's voice clearly works but what we need to know is if he can fly. And there's only one way to find out."
Craven sighed, rubbing his sweat-laden forehead. "Fine. NIGEL, you know what to do."
"When you gotta go, you gotta go!" NIGEL said in his electronic impression. Craven sighed as the yellow robot began to move. Several of its arms began to reach above its head, as if NIGEL were trying to pick an apple from a tree. These arms began to interlock and connect, quickly becoming one, pole-like entity raised over NIGEL's body. Then, the top quarter of NIGEL's interlocked arms pulled away from each other, quickly forming four helicopter blade-like extensions. These arms, which had formed a new helicopter rotor, began to rotate, churning the air as it began to spin faster and faster. Soon, the other rotors were spinning as well, and within a few seconds, a large hum filled the air.
"My God…" Craven muttered, "It's actually working."
Sure enough, while there was a struggle at first, NIGEL began to rise above the ground, dust swirling around as the rotors churned the air. In the next moments, NIGEL rose high into the air, rotors whirling as the yellow robot sped off towards the giant, mutated spider.
"I thought you were SO confident that it would work," Elsie said to Craven with a smirk.
Craven crossed his arms with a huff. "I admit, I had my doubts. But what matters is that it worked."
"Barely."
"Come on," Nick interrupted, cutting in before an argument could begin to grow, "We can't keep dilly-dallying. Craven, access NIGEL's cameras. I want to see what's going on. Elsie, I want you to get us closer to that thing."
"What about NIGEL's standard chassis?" Craven asked, gesturing to the discarded moped.
"We leave it," Nick said simply. Craven sputtered, but before he could protest, Nick continued. "We don't have time to get it back in the car. We need to go, and now."
"Whatever you say," Elsie said with a shrug before leaping into the jeep's driver seat.
Craven, giving NIGEL's former chassis a regretful glance before climbing into the back of the jeep. Nick jumped in beside him so he could watch NIGEL's progress through Craven's laptop. "Let's go!" Nick called. The red-headed paleontologist gave a single nod before slamming on the gas, sending the jeep lurching forward.
As the jeep rumbled as it rushed to catch up with the mutant spider, Craven pulled out his laptop, opening it up and tapping away furiously at the keys. Within a few moments, a video was displayed on the monitor.
Nick leaned over Craven's shoulder, attempting to get a better view. "This is from NIGEL?" he asked.
Craven nodded, shifting slightly to allow Nick a better view, "He's approaching the thorax now."
Sure enough, the footage showed the underside of Kumonga, the oversized arthropod's abdomen hanging overhead. The sound of electronic buzzing, presumably from NIGEL's rotors, filled the air, accompanied by the repeated thumps of the giant spider's footsteps. Even with the background noise, Nick could just overhear the robot mutter, "Must go faster, must go faster!"
With a sigh, Craven muttered, "Damn that kid."
Nick, ignoring the engineer's mutterings, looked up at the mutated spider, which was growing larger as Elsie brought the jeep closer and closer. "How far would you say we are from the point of no return?" Nick asked.
Craven glanced up from the laptop. "I would say a mile, maybe less."
"Then we better hurry up," Nick said with a grimace. Though they were currently on a flat, desert plain, the area wasn't completely flat. To the east was a mountain range, and to the west, the land dipped down into the Rio Grande river. In fact, they were currently on a large, flat plateau, ground higher than that of the Rio Grande and lower than the mountains to the east. About a mile ahead of them, according to Craven, there was a split in the plateau, a small valley with a dried-up riverbed and a single road.
It was here where the military had set up their line of defense.
When the military had first begun its attack on the mutant, it quickly became clear that its body was immune to conventional weaponry. Even the creature's legs were able to withstand a missile launched from an American attack jet. However, all of these attacks had been focused on the exposed area of the creature's body. The legs, abdomen, thorax, carapace, and head had all been hit, with no noticeable damage inflicted. The underbelly of the creature, however, had not been targeted. It was unable to be hit by jets or attack helicopters. Tanks and artillery couldn't get a good shot at its underbelly due to the mutant's body being low to the ground.
The only spot that could possibly be weak enough for shells and missiles to penetrate would be the underbelly. Of course, in normal spiders, this isn't the case. Spiders had exoskeletons, meaning that instead of having a skeleton inside their bodies, they had a tough outer shell. If the underbelly was weaker, it wasn't by much. But, at the same time, Kumunga wasn't a typical spider.
Nick hoped that Kumonga's armor was focused on the exposed areas of its body, the head, legs, carapace, et cetera, et cetera. The mutant's mouth was covered in a thick jungle of hair, and was probably also protected by some sort of thick armor. Several missiles had slammed into the creature's jaws to no effect. Even Kumonga's eyes were protected by a tough shell that, almost like an eyelid, slid over the eye under threat. Seeing how normal spiders didn't have this feature, it provided more evidence that Kumonga was a bit different from its smaller counterpart. Hopefully, this would leave the underbelly weaker, since it isn't as exposed. This would explain Kumonga's low profile, its belly relatively low to the earth to minimize this weak point's exposure.
The plan, assuming this was the case, was to send in self-propelled artillery, artillery vehicles with the ability to raise their guns to a high angle, to drive beneath the mutant and fire into its exposed (and hopefully weaker) underbelly. This plan, of course, needed some evidence in favor that it could work before such a dangerous operation could be attempted. Major Anthony Hicks, the commander in charge of the forces defending Albuquerque, had allowed Nick and his team to test for this weakness. But, if none was found, the plan would be understandably scrapped.
Honestly, Nick would have preferred many things over sending tanks to drive beneath the legs of a giant monster. Hell, he wished for the opportunity to study the creature and its unique biology rather than simply destroy it. But Albuquerque and the lives of those in it were in danger from it. The evacuation was underway, but there were still plenty of people still in the city, people that would most certainly die if the mutant was allowed to reach them. Nick's plan was the only plan they had left, besides simply nuking it (which would be more catastrophic). Tank and artillery shells, missiles, and even bunker-buster bombs had been thrown against the giant, mutated spider, all to no effect. All possible weak spots had been tested, all to no avail.
This was their last shot.
Looking back at Craven's computer, Nick watched as NIGEL approached the center of the mutant's thorax, his propellers whirring as the robot flew up towards the creature's tough underside. However, as it did so, the sound of jet engines roared overhead. Nick looked up in time to see two more jets swoop down towards the mutant. However, instead of missiles, these jets dropped bombs, the small specks falling towards the giant spider before exploding against the mutant's carapace. Smoke drifted up from the spider's back, but there was no sign of any damage.
Kumonga screeched, though more out of anger than out of pain. NIGEL backed away from the mutant's underbelly as the creature retaliated. As with before, the giant spider lifted a hairy leg upwards towards the retreating aircraft. Nick sighed with relief when he saw that the jets were well out of range from the mutant's swipe. However, with a series of clicks, Kumonga continued on its original path, unaffected by the attack.
"NIGEL's in position," Craven reported.
Sure enough, when Nick looked back at the computer screen, NIGEL's camera gave close-up footage of the mutant's underbelly. As Nick watched, NIGEL extended one of his robotic arms, which ended in what almost looked like a double-barreled shotgun, lifting it towards the mutant's hard underbelly. Suddenly, two cylindrical shells shot out of the gun-like mechanism, slamming into the giant spider's rough exoskeleton with great force. The two shells bounced harmlessly off the creature's tough shell, dangling around NIGEL's arms before being pulled back into the barrel by the wires that connected them. NIGEL shot the two shells again, but to the same effect.
However, the shells weren't actually bullets. They weren't designed to penetrate the creature's underside. They were actually what would allow them to see if Kumonga's underbelly could actually be penetrated. Craven, closing out of the window displaying NIGEL's footage, the scientist began furiously tapping away at the computer keys, pulling up the data from their little experiment. For several tense moments, Nick watched as Craven examined the data, glancing every so often as Kumonga neared the break in the plateau.
After a few minutes, though, the clicking suddenly stopped and Craven turned to Nick, smiling at him.
"Good news?" Nick guessed.
"Great news," Craven confirmed with a nod. He tilted the computer towards Nick, allowing him a better view of the presented data. Sure enough, while still quite tough, the underside was weak enough for an artillery shell to penetrate.
Nick's plan might just work.
"We're good to go," Nick said with a nod, "Where's the radio?"
"Here," Elsie said, handing back a small, portable radio while keeping her eyes on her driving.
Nick grabbed the radio and quickly began searching for the frequency of the military's headquarters. At the same time, Craven had switched his computer back to displaying the footage from NIGEL's cameras. The footage gave NIGEL's perspective as the robot began its retreat, beeping and whirring as it made a mad dash away from the mutant. However, right when it seemed that NIGEL had escaped the creature's reach, a ginormous leg suddenly shot into view.
"NIGEL! WATCH -"
"BWAAAAAAAAAAA -"
Craven's warning came too late. With a loud crash, the mutant's leg slammed into Craven's robot, cutting off NIGEL's final, electronic scream as the screen flickered into static.
"NIGEL, NOOO!" Craven cried, looking out towards the smoke drifting away from the mutant's leg in the distance, his eyes wide in horror.
Nick gave Craven a sympathetic glance, but quickly returned to fiddling with the radio. He knew how much NIGEL meant to the engineer, but an odd feeling, coupled with past experience, told Nick that the robot wouldn't remain dead for very long.
At last, Nick was able to pin down the correct frequency and the voice of Major Anthony Hicks crackled from the radio. "Nick? Is that you?"
"It is," Nick responded.
"About damn time," Hicks huffed, "that thing's getting awfully close to the frontline."
Nick didn't need to glance upwards to know that Hicks was right. Fortunately, though, that didn't matter now. "Don't worry," Nick said, "We just finished up here." Nick glanced at the giant spider marching ahead. "And I have good news. We're good to go."
"Are you sure?" Hicks asked. "This plan of yours isn't exactly a walk in the park. I want to be damn sure that this will work."
Nick glanced over at Craven, who was still brooding over the loss of his robot. Having overheard the conversation, however, Craven looked back at Nick and gave him a small, confirming nod.
"Trust me," Nick said, "It'll work."
"You better be right about this, Nick," Hicks said, a slight threat on the edge of his voice. Before Nick could get in a word in reply, the radio clicked and Hicks's voice remained silent.
Nick looked over at Craven and Elsie. "The operation should be starting any moment now. We should probably get out of here."
"Oh, come on," Elsie teased, "Don't you want to stay and watch the fireworks?"
"I would," Nick admitted, "but, for Craven's sake, we should keep our distance."
"I'll agree with that," Craven squeaked, giving the giant mutant a wary glance.
Elsie released an exaggerated sigh. "You guys are boring," she said, but began to turn the jeep away from the battlefield.
However, as she did so, the sounds of growling engines and rumbling tracks filled the desert air. Suddenly, as if out of thin air, a line of vehicles appeared about three hundred feet from the mutant, driving over the ridge and onto the plateau. The line consisted of what had to be about a hundred self-propelled artillery guns, varying between M109 Paladin howitzers and M270 MLRS self-propelled rocket artillery.
The mutant, taking notice of the vehicle's sudden appearance, stopped in its tracks, staring at the defensive line with its beady, purple eyes. Its pincers wiggled and Kumonga released a series of eerie clicks. The giant spider then looked up towards the bright blue sky, its jaws opening wide to reveal its wicked fangs. Suddenly, a white, stringy substance shot out of Kumonga's open mouth.
Elsie inadvertently slowed the jeep down to a stop as they watched Kumonga spit out a long trail of the substance, which arched through the sky.
"Fascinating," Craven said, staring in awe at the stunt being performed before them. "It seems that Kumonga can form spider silk through its jaws rather than its spinnerets, or maybe with both."
"Weird," Elsie remarked. "Why would it need to shoot silk from its mouth? To catch its prey?"
"I think we're about to find out," Nick said, staring up as Kumonga's silk began to fall towards the Earth…
… and towards the line of self-propelled artillery.
The mutant-made silk landed on the artillery vehicles with far less force than what one would assume of giant silk. The amount of damage was equivalent to simply throwing a blanket over the tanks. However, the silk still had an immediate effect on the artillery vehicles. The white, webby substance clung to the metallic armor like glue, jamming the tank tracks and clogging both the Paladins' cannons and the MLRSs' launchers.
Realizing what was going on, the line of mobile artillery tried to charge forward towards the mutant. Several dozen were fortunate enough for Kumonga's webbing to have missed them, and those that the webbing only narrowly missed were even able to escape the clutches of the giant spider's sticky silk. However, many of the tanks found themselves completely immobile. With spider silk slipping into the tank tracks, locking up gears and wheels, the number of vehicles that could partake in the operation dropped like a stone. Many vehicles, including some of those that could move, weren't even able to fire their cannons or shoot their rockets. With silk covering howitzer barrels and MLRS missiles, the tanks were more likely to blow themselves up than the mutant before them.
Even so, the tanks, or at least those that could, began to charge towards the mutant. However, Kumonga wasn't done yet. Returning its gaze to the approaching vehicles, the giant mutant chirped as it spat out another glob of spider silk. This time, the silk was balled up like a projectile and fired with far greater force. The ball of webbing slammed into one of the approaching Paladin's, knocking the tank to the side and off course. The Paladin, having lost control, had no choice but to crash into a nearby MLRS, knocking both vehicles out of the fight. All the while, Kumonga continued to spit out strings and globs of its silk, disabling more and more of the military's forces.
"Shit," Nick cursed as he watched the battle unfold. Though Nick now knew that Kumonga's underbelly was vulnerable, that didn't matter if none of the self-propelled guns could get a shot at it. At this rate, the military's entire ground force will be decimated, and with airpower being useless against the mutant's tough shell, Albuquerque was doomed.
Nick clenched his fists as he weighed his options. Only miraculous and impossible luck would allow any of those tanks to get between Kumonga's legs and a view of its underbelly. However, at the same time, the vehicles could only be destroyed if Kumonga continued to assault them with its webbed attacks.
Something it couldn't do if it was distracted.
Looking at Elsie, Nick asked, "Do we have a flare gun on hand by chance?"
Elsie looked back at him through the rearview mirror. "Sure, in the glove compartment."
"Hand it here," Nick said, "we're going to need it."
Elsie nodded and wordlessly reached for the jeep's glove compartment. However, as she reached back to hand Nick the red flare gun, she said, "Here, but I wouldn't count on that burning its web. Even if its silk was flammable, which we don't know for sure if it is, it wouldn't burn nearly fast enough to free up those tanks before that thing digs in."
Nick grabbed the flare gun from her hand, a smile slipping onto his face. "Good thing I'm not aiming for the web," he said.
"Wait," Craven began, turning to Nick, "what are you going to do?"
"I'm not doing anything," Nick corrected, glancing at Craven, "we are going to distract it."
"We're doing what?" Craven said, a horrified expression paling his face.
"Elsie," Nick said, turning back to the red-headed paleontologist, "I need you to drive us as close to that thing as possible. If I can get that thing's attention, maybe we can give those tanks a chance to get underneath its legs and destroy it."
"You do realize that's going to put its attention on us, right?" Elsie asked grimly.
"That's… an unfortunate consequence," Nick admitted. "But if we don't get its attention off of the military, Kumonga is going to destroy them. Then there will be nothing standing between that thing and the largest city in New Mexico."
"Wait, wait, wait," Craven said erratically, glancing warily at the battle in the distance. "Can't we talk about this? Isn't there another way we can do this? A safer way?"
"We don't have the time to think of one," Nick said apologetically. "We need to go, and now." He then turned to Elsie and said, "Get me close to the mutant, so I can fire a flare at it. Once I get its attention, drive like hell."
Elsie turned around, a small, wicked smile slid onto her face. "Don't need to ask me twice. Hold onto your butts!"
With that, Elsie whipped back around and slammed on the gas. Nick was forced backward as the jeep accelerated towards the battle, bouncing in his seat as the car sped over the rough, desert terrain. Meanwhile, some of the surviving artillery tanks began firing at Kumonga, desperately trying to get a shot at its weak underbelly. However, the giant mutant's belly was low to the ground, keeping any tank not directly under the mutant from landing a shot.
Nick gripped the flare gun, pinning his eyes onto the mutant as Elsie brought them closer and closer. With the speed the paleontologist drove at, it didn't take long for them to come into range with the giant spider. Nick didn't know enough about flare guns to know the exact reach of one, but he had a good idea of when he got into range with the mutant. Though, at the same time, Nick was aware that they would be well within the range of Kumonga's webbed attack.
As Nick carefully began to stand up, holding on to the door beside him to keep his balance. Nick noticed that Kumonga had stopped moving, standing still as it fired its webbed projectiles at the military's ground forces. This meant that Nick would not only be shooting at a still target, but he wouldn't need to be moving as well.
"Stop here," Nick commanded when he felt they were close enough. "I'll try to hit it from here."
Elsie wordlessly obliged, stopping the jeep and allowing Nick a steadier shot at the mutant. Nick lifted the flare gun and looked down its barrel, aiming for one of the mutant's amethyst eyes. Nick prayed that a flare to the eye, even if it would do no damage to the mutant, would be enough to bring the creature's attention away from the ground forces. Nick knew that the creature had reacted to the jets whenever they dropped missiles or bombs, but would a tiny flare have the same effect? Probably not to the thorax, legs, or even face, but would the eyes be sensitive enough to provoke it?
There was only one way to find out.
Nick sucked in a deep, lungful of air as he tried to steady his aim. Though the mutant wasn't walking, its head jolted erratically as it fired its silk at the mobile artillery. Nick also wasn't exactly an expert with guns, and though he knew well enough about flare guns to aim slightly above his target, a small pool of doubt was growing in his gut. But Nick knew that doubt would only screw up his shot. He had to get this right, but even if he missed, or Kumonga didn't react, Nick would simply try again and again until that thing was distracted and the military could finish the job.
Nick sighed, covered his ears with his shoulders, squeezed the trigger, and fired.
The trail of red fire and smoke shot out of the barrel with a loud bang, hurtling toward Nick's target like a missile. However, the longer the ball of flame continued through the air, the slower it became, eventually falling towards the mutant's face. Nick watched as the projectile landed only a few feet above Kumonga's right large eye, rolling down the giant spider's face before falling to the desert ground below.
However, though Nick had missed his target, the deed had been done. With the flare's proximity to the mutant's eye, Kumonga could do nothing but notice the blinding light glaring in its view.
Kumonga screeched as it shook itself, throwing the flare off its body but breaking off the attack on the mobile artillery. Its hairs bristled and its pincers snapped in frustration as Kumonga whirled around, searching for the source of the offending light.
The mutant quickly found it, taking the form of Nick, Elsie, and Craven in their little red jeep.
"I think it's time we get out of here," Craven said nervously, staring wide-eyed at the fierce glare of the giant spider.
Nick, staring into the mutant's eight deep, amethyst pools, each thirsty for blood, couldn't help but agree.
"GO, GO, GO!"
Almost as soon as Nick said it, Elsie slammed on the gas, sending Nick tumbling back into his seat as the jeep lurched forward. Nick was then thrown to the left, slamming into Craven as Elsie pulled the jeep into a one-eighty turn. Spotting its prey begin to flee, Kumonga screeched as it began to charge after them. Turning around in his seat, Nick watched the giant mutant steadily approaching them, its eight legs pounding into the earth as it chased them.
Suddenly, Kumonga's jaws snapped open and a soggy ball of spider silk shot out towards them.
Nick was just able to shout, "Incoming!" as Elsie, spotting the projectile through the rearview mirror, violently pulled the jeep to the right.
"Fuck!" Elsie cursed as the pulpy projectile slammed into the ground only a foot or so to the left, bits of spider silk splattering onto the jeep and across the windshield.
"It's gaining on us!" Craven observed, his voice shaking from both fear and the roughness of the ride.
"No shit!" Elsie spat, swerving the vehicle to the left as another glob of spider silk splattered against the ground in front of them. Dust was kicked into the air, covering everyone in the vehicle and coating the windshield like snow. Elsie quickly activated the windshield wipers, which made quick work cleaning the front window of dust and mushy spider silk.
However, as it did so, a massive shadow fell over them and a large claw stabbed into the desert earth right in front of the speeding jeep.
As fast as she had slammed on the gas, Elsie slammed on the brakes. A storm of dust trailed behind them as the wheels skid against the ground, the jeep swerving left and right as the vehicle struggled to stop. It eventually did, but not before it slammed into Kumonga's wicked claw. Nick and the others were thrown forward as the force behind the collision popped the jeep's hood and bent the bumper and dented the engine.
"Is everyone okay?" Nick asked, after quickly recovering from the collision. Looking between Elsie and Craven, Nick was relieved to find that they had done the same.
However, in response, Craven pointed upwards and said, "Not for long!"
Following Craven's gaze, Nick looked up to find Kumonga's eight, amethyst eyes staring down at them. Nick's jaw subconsciously dropped slightly ajar as he watched the giant spider take a step back from the jeep, leaning downwards to get a better look at its prey.
Elsie began stomping the gas pedal as hard as she could, but to no avail. "Damn it!" she cursed as she pounded the controls, but no matter what she did, the jeep wouldn't start. Nick doubted that it would matter anyway. He watched as Kumonga opened its jaws, bits of spider silk dribbling from its mouth. Its pincers clicked and the mutant chirped as it leaned down towards them, preparing to ensnare them in its web, and swallow them whole.
And then… BOOM!
A blood-curdling screech filled the air as Kumonga suddenly made a full retreat. Nick whipped around, turning to find Kumonga scurrying away, a high-pitched scream filling the air, a thick, blue liquid pouring from a fresh wound in its stomach.
And driving between its legs was the self-propelled artillery.
Nick, Craven, and Elsie watched in silence as the dozen remaining mobile howitzers and rocket artillery, now beneath their target, began firing into the mutant's underbelly. Kumonga screamed, firing its webbed projectiles erratically. But while a couple of tanks still outside of the mutant's shadow were hit by a stray shot, most of the vehicles were driving between the mutant's legs, firing artillery shells and rockets into Kumonga's belly. Each hit resulted in a spurt of blue blood, which stained the ground and coated any vehicle that drove into the shower.
Kumonga quickly switched tactics, attempting to stab the tanks with its wicked claws. A few unfortunate vehicles had the misfortune of falling to this strategy, but Nick knew that it was too little, too late for the giant. Their distraction had done its job, and now the mutant's underbelly was exposed to the military's firepower. Stray scales, pools of blood, and chunks of flesh littered the ground as more ammunition was unloaded into the mutant. Within minutes, Kumonga was beginning to grow weaker and weaker, its movements slower and clumsier, its cries quieter.
At last, with one final cry of pain, Kumonga's legs buckled and the giant spider began to fall.
And, with a start, Nick realized that they were in its path.
"We got to go!" Nick yelled, frantically pushing at Craven and gesturing to Elsie in an attempt to get them out of the vehicle. "Move, move, move!"
Thankfully, both Craven and Elsie had noticed the danger, and were quick to escape the confines of the jeep. They bolted away from the falling mutant, their arms pumping, their feet kicking up dust as they collided with the ground. At the same time, having noticed Kumonga's collapse, the mobile artillery made a beeline for the outside of the giant spider's shadow.
Suddenly, the Earth shook as, with a dull thud, Kumonga's body collided with the ground. With a loud, metallic crunch, the head of the mutant slammed down onto the abandoned jeep, flattening it instantly. Fortunately, though, the jeep was the only thing to fall beneath the weight of the mutant. Nick, Craven, and Elsie, as well as all of the surviving tanks, were able to get clear of Kumonga's falling body.
When the tremors finally ceased, Nick turned around to face the fallen mutant. Even when sprawled on the ground, Kumonga's form seemed like a mountain in the middle of the desert plateau. However, it was clear that the mutant was dead. Its body remained motionless, and not an utterance escaped its jaws. Nick began to step forward, gazing into the mutant's eight amethyst eyes. However, unlike before, these eight jewels were dull and faded. They no longer glowed as they had done when the creature was alive.
Nick sighed with relief as all doubt retreated from his mind.
Kumonga was dead. The battle was over.
Ten minutes later…
Helicopters roared over the battlefield as news reporters scrambled to tell the world of the battle that had concluded about ten minutes earlier. Nick watched them zoom back and forth, circling over the carcass of the once-mighty mutant that now lay sprawled across the desert ground, blue blood seeping out from beneath it. Nick sat just within the shadow of a large tent, one of many that the military had rushed to set up following the mutant's defeat.
He watched absentmindedly as numerous vehicles drove right up to Kumonga's corpse, the scientists they carried gathering samples of the mutant's blood and flesh for experimentation and study in their labs. Nick had no doubt that they were scientists of Crisis Control Intelligence, or CCI for short, the multinational organization dedicated to studying and, more importantly, killing creatures such as Kumonga, giant monsters mutated from nuclear radiation. The days in which scientists were randomly pulled off the street were over. If anyone wanted to study Large, Unidentified Mutated Organisms, or LUMOs, they would need to be hired by CCI first.
Nick himself could have been up there with them, collecting samples for him to study later. After all, Nick himself was a part of CCI. Hell, he was one of its original members. But Nick was tired after the fiasco with Kumonga, and he knew that he would get his fair share of samples. The scientists of CCI worked together. They had to, unless they wanted creatures like Kumonga to launch successful attacks on innocent lives. Though, at the same time, Nick had developed into becoming more of an outdoor scientist. Sure, he would take to the labs when the situation required it, but Nick preferred to be amidst the action where he felt he would be the most useful.
Suddenly, a familiar voice greeted Nick from behind him. "Hey there, Nick."
Nick, quickly recognizing the voice, turned around to find a blonde woman wearing a pink dress suit over a light blue office skirt walking up to him. Following close behind was a man with messy, brown hair sticking out from beneath a blue cap worn backward on his head. A blue jacket sat overtop of a yellow, collared shirt and a large camera was held on his shoulder.
Nick smiled at the two and said, "Hey, Audrey, it's been a while."
Audrey Timmonds smiled back and replied, "Yes it has."
Nick had known Audrey Timmonds since back in their college days. In fact, much of their time together back then had been spent in a romantic relationship. However, this relationship came to end when Nick had proposed to Audrey, to which Audrey responded by simply leaving. However, by a twist of fate, Audrey and Nick would find themselves in each other's company once again during the infamous Manhattan Incident. This did not lead to them getting back together again, but the two did reform a friendship that continued for the next two years.
And such was completely fine by Nick. On a stray night, Nick would consider that alternate reality where Nick and Audrey had gotten married all those years ago. But, Nick was perfectly content with just being friends with Audrey, and Nick knew that Audrey felt the same way. In fact, it was all the better that they weren't in a relationship, for their jobs would have made one far more difficult than when they were in college. Nick was a scientist working for CCI, hunting giant monsters mutated by radiation. Audrey, though having worked with CCI for a brief period of time, had fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a news reporter.
And it seemed, as it had been now and then over the past two years, Nick was due for an interview from the famed reporter.
"I assume you're not here for small talk," Nick guessed.
Audrey sighed. "Unfortunately no. I'm here as a reporter, nothing more."
Nick nodded in understanding before glancing at Audrey's cameraman, whom Nick had also been acquainted with. "How're you doing, Victor?"
The cameraman, who was setting up his gear, gave Nick a glance, a nod, and a "Good."
Victor Palotti, nicknamed "Animal" for God knows why, was Audrey's cameraman, who Nick had met back during the Manhattan Incident. Back then, Audrey had only been an assistant, so the two hadn't worked together. However, the two of them had still been friends, knowing each other through Audrey's friendship with Victor's wife.
Victor glanced over at the corpse of Kumonga, giving it a wary expression. "Ya sure we can't do this somewhere else?" he asked. "That thing is creeping me out."
"Don't worry," Nick said assuredly, "It's as good as dead."
"Well, I know that," Victor huffed. "It's just freaky, is all." The cameraman gave the dead mutant another suspicious glance before giving Audrey the nod to continue.
"Alright," Audrey said, turning to Nick, "You know the drill. Just smile and answer the questions."
Nick nodded in understanding, though, as Audrey walked off to grab her microphone and tidy her hair, Nick tried his best to quickly brush himself off. The incident with Kumonga hadn't left him in the cleanest condition. Even so, without a remark towards his dusty clothes and untidy hair, Audrey quickly returned to stand at Nick's side, microphone in hand, smiling at the camera. Victor counted down from three to one and Audrey began her report.
"Thank you, Dave," Audrey said to the invisible reporter that had, in a newsroom on the other side of the country, introduced her. Audrey then began by introducing herself, saying, "I am Audrey Timmonds of Channel 11 News reporting on the battle that just concluded outside of Albuquerque."
Audrey then introduced Nick to the camera. "Here I have Dr. Nick Tatopoulos, scientist of Crisis Control Intelligence and one of those who was involved in the infamous Manhattan Incident." Audrey turned to face Nick, and asked, "Dr. Tatopoulos, could tell us what this thing was and where it came from?"
Nick sighed, collecting his thoughts as he formulated a response. He had to be careful what he told Audrey. Though he trusted her, Nick knew there was information both the US military and CCI would prefer to remain secret. He had almost lost his job once for making such a mistake, and he was careful not to make it again.
After a brief moment, Nick said, "Well, the creature was codenamed Kumonga, which is derived from the Japanese word for spider, which is Kumo. And as with its name, the creature's appearance is like that of a tarantula. Kumonga likely came from somewhere in the Chihuahuan Desert."
Though what Nick said was true, Nick actually had far more knowledge of the creature's origins than he let on. In fact, Nick knew as much as which nuclear test spawned the creature. Kumonga had first appeared the previous night near a remote corner of the Alamogordo Bombing Range known as "Jornada del Muerto" or "Journey of Death". This happened to be the site of none other than the Trinity test, the codename for the very first nuclear destination in history. However, Nick figured that the military wouldn't be too pleased if the public found out that the Trinity test was responsible for creating such a dangerous creature.
However, Nick had underestimated Audrey's deductive skills. "So, this creature was created from an American nuclear test?"
"It's possible," Nick admitted, choosing his words carefully. "At the same time, we don't have enough information about Kumonga to know exactly where it originated. There are several theories about where this thing came from, but for now, that investigation is still ongoing."
This wasn't entirely wrong either. Other possible theories for the mutant's origins had been floated around. One theory was that some mutants lived deep underground, feeding off of and naturally evolving from the radiation that existed closer to the Earth's core. However, it was pretty much unanimously accepted that Kumonga was created by the Trinity test, and these theories were possible origins for future mutants that may appear.
Audrey gave a small nod before asking, "This has so far been the most successful victory against one of these giant monsters. The monster failed to reach Albuquerque and there were minimal casualties. Do you believe that we can expect to see more such victories in the future?"
This time, Nick gave his honest opinion. "While I believe that more successes are possible, to say that we didn't get lucky with Kumonga would only be naive. This particular mutant was vulnerable to conventional weapons and didn't have regenerative abilities. However, I can not say the same for mutants of the future… or the past."
"Well, in that case," Audrey said, "do you think there will be more mutants in the future?"
Nick sighed, knowing that there wasn't much getting around this question. "We live in a world that is no longer unfamiliar to nuclear technology. Numerous nations across the world have access to it, including our own. At the same time, the Pacific has been hit with dozens of nuclear tests, including the one that led to the Manhattan Incident. I would like to say that the appearance of more mutants is unlikely, but to say that would be to tell a lie."
"And do you think he will come back?" Audrey then asked, her face going grim. Even without an explicit name, Nick immediately understood what Audrey was asking and who she was referring to. In all honesty, Nick was amazed that they hadn't already seen him make a reappearance. Sure, it had only been five months since the attack on Washington, but with his behavior both in the Manhattan Incident and in that fateful attack, he hadn't exactly been merciful. Of all the mutants Nick had faced, he had the greatest vendetta against humanity. When all the other mutants seemed more like animals, he seemed almost like a vengeful god. The question wasn't if he would return, but when.
However, Nick didn't want to tell that to all of those that were watching. It wasn't even that CCI would most definitely not want Nick making that statement, but the fact that such a statement would create panic and chaos. He wasn't exactly unknown to the world. Not anymore. Audrey wouldn't even speak his name on television. Nick didn't want to lie, but to say that there was a very likely chance that he would return would create panic, and that was the last thing they needed, especially on the day that he did return.
However, before Nick could decide on a response, he was saved by the bell.
Or, more accurately, by a voice calling out from behind him.
"Hey! Dr. Nick!"
Nick turned around to greet the voice, having quickly recognized it. His ears did not deceive him. Running up to him was a Hispanic American man wearing a light blue jacket overtop of a white t-shirt. Nick smiled as he recognized the man as Randy Hernandez.
Randy gave Audrey a dashing smile and said, "Excuse me, mind if I borrow him? Major Hicks wants to talk to him."
Audrey sighed, clearly preferring if she could have just continued the interview, but simply gave a confirming nod. "Fine," she said, before turning back to the camera. "I guess that's the end of the interview."
Nick gave Audrey and Victor a small nod in goodbye, in which Audrey replied with a small one of her own, before following Randy out from beneath the tent and onto the hot desert ground.
Though Randy had not been present for the Manhattan Incident, Nick had actually known the computer expert for a long time. Nick had hired Randy and brought him into CCI after he had been expelled from college for nondescript hacking of school computers. Despite this, Nick had seen promise in the young man, and his knowledge of computers rivaled, if not succeeded, even that of Craven's. It was Randy who had reprogrammed NIGEL to take on the personality of Jeff Goldblum, which Nick had no doubt meant was only meant as a harmless prank. Nick had worked with Randy ever since he had brought him on and the two had become friends ever since.
"Come to save me from the media?" Nick asked the computer-expert.
"Maybe," Randy said innocently with a simple shrug. "I was telling the truth about Hicks, though. He does want to talk to us."
"About what?" Nick asked.
Randy shrugged again. "Didn't say. Probably about that spider thing." Randy gave Nick a wide smile. "By the way, that was one hell of a show, out there. Made me wish I was out there with you."
"Maybe next time, Randy," Nick said with a smile.
"Oh, by the way," Randy said suddenly, "How'd you like my little adjustment to Craven's favorite toy?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "I can't say I approve," he began, "but I guess it was a harmless surprise."
Randy chuckled. "Oh, come on. You know Craven needs a little fun in his life. I simply provide him with it."
"I have a suspicion that you and Craven have two different definitions of 'fun'," Nick pointed out.
The two of them continued to trade small talk until they finally began to approach a large tent. Unlike the one Nick had left, the tent walls were closed, and there was almost an air of secrecy about it. This was only confounded by the Vietnamese French woman standing beside the entrance flap, arms crossed, an unimpressed look on her face. She wore a black jacket over top of a light purple shirt and blue jeans.
Nick nodded to the woman and greeted, "Good to see you here, Monique."
Monique Dupre gave a small nod in return and, with a glance at the corpse of Kumonga, responded, "A little late, unfortunately." She gave Nick a stern look. "I would have preferred to have been here when you charged at that thing with nothing but a jeep."
"And a flare," Randy added optimistically.
Monique huffed and rolled her eyes.
Nick had, like with Randy, met Monique Dupre after the Manhattan Incident. However, it was for different reasons. During the Manhattan Incident, Nick had worked with a man named Philippe Roache, who was an agent for the French Secret Service. After the incident, Roache had sent Nick supplies to help him with his mutant-hunting endeavors. And to both oversee and help Nick, Roache had sent Monique Dupre, his best agent.
In fact, Monique would have likely come along with Nick during the battle against Kumonga if she weren't delayed by a meeting she had with Roache. However, despite being an agent for the French Secret Service, Monique had pretty much earned her place amongst CCI. She was quick-thinking, expertly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and her connections to the French government helped get them all sorts of supplies and, if the need arose, weapons. She was far from a scientist, but for the past two years, she had been working along with Nick, Elsie, Craven, and Randy as they traveled the globe searching for Large, Unidentified Mutated Organisms, or LUMOs.
The five of them had, since they had first joined together two years ago, been a part of a specialized team formed by Nick himself. This team, while technically a part of CCI, had practically become an organization of its own, becoming almost like real-life Ghostbusters but for giant monsters instead of dead spirits.
This team had been named the Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team, or H.E.A.T.
"What was your meeting with Roache about?" Nick asked.
Monique's face went grim, or at least grimmer than it already was, and she glanced around, as if wary of unwanted attention. In a whisper, she said, "Roache is resigning."
Nick's eyebrows raised with surprise. "Really? Why?"
"He's in his sixties," Monique explained. "He's not exactly as fit as he used to be."
"He's still pretty fit regardless," Nick pointed out. "I was with him two years ago during the Manhattan Incident, and he was in his sixties then."
"He was also a witness to the nuclear test that started that whole ordeal," Monique pointed out. Then, she said, "Trust me, he doesn't like it either. This was a decision from the higher-ups. Roache wants to keep working but agents are supposed to retire at the age of 57. It's remarkable that he served as long as he did before they forced him to retire."
Nick sighed. While not a part of CCI or HEAT, Nick had worked a couple of times with the old secret agent over the last two years. They had survived the Manhattan Incident together, and Nick had developed a respect for the man. Though well deserved, Nick was saddened to hear that his old friend was retiring.
"So, he's heading back to France?" Nick asked, already knowing the answer.
However, to his surprise, Monique shook her head. "He's actually here now. He still has a few weeks before retirement, and he wants to give us a mission before he does so."
Nick was about to ask what that mission was, but was interrupted by Randy. "Wait, once Roache retires, what will happen to you?" Randy asked.
That's a good point, Nick realized. So far, all of the support that the French Secret Service had given to HEAT was because of Roache. This included the services of Monique herself. Once Roache was gone, Nick couldn't be certain that the French wouldn't take back their equipment. That was fine, since they would be supported by CCI anyway, but Nick wondered if they would recall Monique as well.
"I don't know," Monique responded. "They could allow me to stay here, or they could send me elsewhere."
Nick glanced at Randy, and said, "Maybe we should worry about that later. I think Hicks and the others are waiting for us inside."
"Agreed," Monique said with a nod, and the three stepped inside of the tent.
Upon entering the tent, Nick was greeted with the sight of a long table lined with chairs, a projector set at the farther end of the table. This projector faced a whiteboard that was settled on a frame with wheels. And standing to the right of the whiteboard was Major Anthony Hicks.
"Finally," Hicks huffed impatiently upon spotting their arrival, the Major clad with typical clothing of a military officer and wearing a green cap.
"Sorry Major," Nick said, though he knew that Hicks wasn't really mad at him. Probably just annoyed. Hicks and Nick, while not as close as Nick was to the other members of HEAT, had worked together throughout the past two years. Like with Elsie, Craven, and Roache, Nick had first met Hicks during the Manhattan Incident. However, back then Hicks had just been a colonel in the United States Army. Now Hicks was a Major, and in command of all military forces under CCI's domain.
In speaking of Elsie, Craven, and Roache, Nick quickly spotted them sitting down at the table, Elsie and Craven sitting on the left side with Roache sitting on the right. Roache, despite being in his sixties, seemed quite fit. He wore a tan jacket over a blue, collared shirt and, though his stubble beard was grey, his hair was still as jet black as Nick remembered. Admittedly, Nick wished to speak with Roache about his retirement, but decided that was a conversation for later. Instead, Nick gave the old French agent a friendly nod, in which Roache gave one in reply.
That was when Nick spotted two other familiar faces sitting to Roache's left and opposite of Craven and Elsie. One was a Japanese man, wearing a brown jacket over a white shirt, his hair short and black and with a short stubble of his own. To his left was a British woman, her black hair tied back and wearing a women's suit.
"Dr. Serizawa," Nick greeted, "Dr. Graham. It's good to see you."
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa smiled at Nick, replying with, "It's good to see you as well," in a thick, Japanese accent.
Dr. Vivienne Graham, in a slight British accent, added, "Same here."
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham had been, along with Nick, Elsie, and Craven, one of CCI's first scientists. They had been involved with the Manhattan Incident and have since become the leading scientists of CCI. They weren't a part of HEAT, but they would sometimes work together. Serizawa and Graham were almost a team of their own, the two traveling together as they tried to study mutants.
Nick sat down on the opposite side of the table of Roache, Serizawa, and Graham. Randy and Monique sat down to Nick's right, which happened to be to the left of Elsie and Craven.
"Looks like the original club is back together," Randy said, leaning back in his chair. "Well, with a secret agent and one devilishly handsome and brilliant computer hacker as well," Randy added with a smile.
Craven, from the other side of Monique, scoffed. "Ya, playing childish pranks makes you seem so mature."
Randy just rolled your eyes, "Says the one who built that toy in the first place."
Before Craven could retort, Hicks intervened with a heavy sigh. "Can we get started now? This is very important."
Randy gave Hicks a dashing smile and said, "Yes, sir."
Hicks sighed once more but simply leaned over the table to start up the projector. Bright rays of varying colors shot out of the small box, spreading across the whiteboard to form an image. Currently, that image was simply a black screen with the words "TOP SECRET" written in the center.
"Before we can continue," Hicks said, "it is imperative that nothing said leaves this room. At least not for now. Agreed?"
Nick, along with everyone else, nodded in confirmation. At the same time, he also wondered exactly what was so secret. Another mutant? Perhaps some sort of secret, military project? Maybe even…
"Yesterday evening," Hicks began, interrupting Nick's thoughts, "just before Kumonga's attack, we got satellite footage of an uninhabited island in the Pacific, about a thousand miles southwest of Honolulu."
Hicks, pulling a small remote from his jacket pocket, pointed it towards the whiteboard and clicked a button. The screen changed, shifting to an overhead image of a large, tropical island with mountains stretching across the landmass. However, other than that, Nick couldn't spot anything peculiar.
"At first, as you can see," Hicks continued, "there wasn't anything out of the ordinary." Hicks glanced back at everyone in the room, a grim expression on his face. "However, then we spotted something."
Hicks clicked the remote again and the screen changed once more. Now the image was zoomed in on an inland lake. On the southern beach of the lake, standing out against the pearly white sand, was a massive collection of rock, almost like a miniature mountain sticking out of the sand. However, this rock formation had an odd detail that set it apart from others. The top of the formation was lined with three rows of jagged, almost crystalline spikes, the edges colored a dark purple and taking a maple leaf-like shape.
Nick's breath caught in his throat and the room went silent as everyone collectively realized that the screen was not displaying an image of an odd rock formation. No, it was showing something far worse. Something far more terrifying.
Even Randy remained subdued, his eyes wide, as Craven weakly muttered, "I-is that… is that who I think it is?"
Hicks nodded, his grim expression unwavering. "It is," he said darkly. The Major turned towards the screen, staring coldly at the image before him. "We found him at last."
Nick, suddenly retaining the ability to speak, opened his mouth and whispered the cursed name that had destroyed so many lives and was so greatly feared.
"Godzilla…"
A/N - Hey guys! I am back at last. I am terribly sorry for the long wait. I wished I could have gotten this chapter out sooner, but a combination of school, writer's block, and the overall length of this chapter made completing it take a while. Unfortunately, the days of posting a chapter every week are long gone. Hopefully, that action scene in the beginning made up for the wait. I hope you guys don't mind that I have HEAT already formed with all the members familiar with each other instead of showing their formation. I figured that it made more sense for them to have already formed and been on several missions since it's two years after the first story and the monsters haven't exactly been idle. There is the possibility that I could make a side story about their formation, though if I decide to do this, it probably won't be until after the completion of the series. As for Kumonga, unfortunately, I don't have plans on bringing him back, and even if I change my mind it would probably be in a lesser role than in this chapter. But, don't worry, there will be plenty of monster action. That reminds me, I've been thinking about going back to Mutants and Monsters and extending the fight scene between Godzilla, Zilla, and Orga, since I realize that I didn't show much of that fight even though it was supposed to be the final battle. If I decide to do that, I'll make sure to let you guys know in an author's note of this story. Not in the author's notes of my other stories though, since they aren't connected to that story or this series. In speaking of which, I'll probably be focussing on the Heiseiverse for a while since I had pretty much left it alone to get this chapter done. Hopefully, I can get that out soon. Oh, and one more thing. I'm making the prologue of this story into chapter 1, since I feel that its length is more suitable of it being a chapter rather than a prologue. This means that I'll probably write a new prologue for this story at some point, probably after finishing the next chapter of the Heiseiverse. I will let you guys know when I do that. Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Advent of Lusus Naturae, and have a good day!